bruce bartlett was an economic adviser to the supply-side icon jack kemp, and to two presidents -- ronald reagan and the first george bush. he got into hot water with his conservative cohorts when he wrote a widely quoted book critical of the second president bush. his most recent work is "the benefit and the burden: tax reform-why we need it and what it will take." yves smith is the founder and editor of the popular blog naked capitalism. after 25 years in the financial services industry, she now heads the management consulting firm aurora advisors. she's the author of this book: "econned: how unenlightened self interest undermined democracy and corrupted capitalism." welcome to you both. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> is the fiscal cliff just a metaphor? or is it for real? >> well, the cliff is an inappropriate metaphor. and it does conjure up images, precisely the one you said, of cars or people or companies falling over and landing in a great mess at the bottom. in fact, it would be much more accurately described as a fiscal slope. there are certain changes that will occur on january